Thursday:
Identity: Lost ($0.99) In Chicago, 1975, young James Overstreet testified against a group of youths accused of murder, but authorities botched the case and James’s family is sent into hiding in Arizona. Thirty years later, James is working as a prosecutor when his dangerous Windy-City past reappears to turn his life upside down.
Free App for Kindle Fire and Android Devices
Fragger (Free) The world of Fragger is at risk, and he needs your help to explode all enemies. Unleash your shooting abilities to kill all the enemies and unlock three different perks. Play the interactive tutorial to get comfortable launching the grenades, and then put your game face on; it’s Fragger time.
Prices good today only until 11:59pm Pacific Time. Regular daily posts are below this post.
Unsolicited advice for authors
Dear Author –
You have toiled and labored to bring your creative thoughts to your book. You have read, read, re-read, written and re-written repeatedly. You are to be commended.
You didn’t ask, but I wanted to pass along a little unsolicited advice. It’s free and my opinion only. Other readers may not agree.
You know all those wonderful comments you posted on the book’s webpage? The words of praise for your writing style and the plot and characters in the book have to be encouraging and points of pride for you. Well, first and foremost I want to know the book. If the book description doesn’t draw me in, then the reviews just won’t matter. Please make your book description the first item to read.
About that description. Please use a spell checker. Maybe you could ask a few friends to proofread. If you have spelling, grammar and/or punctuation errors in the description, I immediately think that your book is chock-full of spelling, grammar and/or punctuation errors. The description below was taken exactly from a web page in the Kindle Store:
Two stories in one;
Childhood Enemies: Nicolette had been bullied by Jay for most of her school life and that and a few other things had led to her leaving the small town she’d grown up in. Coming back five years later for the reunion and to visit her best friend, Tammy, she’s shocked to learn that some things havwe changed and others havent…
In the authors’ defense, updating descriptions can become a difficult task in the Kindle Store.
Do you have a pet peeve about book descriptions in the Kindle Store? Leave a comment with advice you would give authors about book descriptions. I’ll write more about descriptions in a few weeks.
Giving more to our Facebook friends
If you follow our site via Facebook, we have improved our look. For each of our posts, you will now see the bookcover. Please like a post every once in awhile to keep our posts coming to your page. We haven’t quite gotten the feed perfected, so you may want to visit the site periodically to see all the postings. Another way to see every post is to subscribe to our daily e-mail using the form in the right sidebar.
Beach Reads
The vacation season will officially start with the Memorial Day holiday later this month. We will be posting the great cheap reads that the publishers will be offering for your summer reading pleasure. Look for this summertime graphic to identify a lighter read at a great cheap price. Have you downloaded these cheap reads?
An Engagement in Seattle by Debbie Macomber (48 cents) – 2-book romance bundle
School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer (52 cents) – young adult fiction
The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O’Hagan (59 cents) – a canine memoir
A Winter Discovery by Michael Baron (89 cents) – contemporary romance filled with irrepressible spirit
Olympic Fever
The 2012 Summer Olympics will open on July 28 in London, England. Publishers may offer books with an Olympics theme over the coming weeks. Let’s hope they are as cheaply priced as the book below – only 99 cents when you pre-order it today.
Book description: David Davis’s stunning account of how Merry Lepper became the first American woman to complete a marathon.
At a time when television was pushing male-dominated sports coverage into living rooms across America, women were struggling just to set foot onto the playing field. Barred from officially registering for long-distance running competitions, some women ran anyway, defying the authorities and the rules. Still, no American woman had ever successfully completed sports’ ultimate endurance test: the marathon.
That changed in December of 1963, when Merry Lepper became the first. Leaping out of her hiding place in the bushes at the start of the race, dodging cars and infuriating race officials, Merry Lepper challenged the status quo and defeated it, years before the ban on female competitors would be revoked. This is the story of the arduous journey women distance runners had to endure to reach equality with men, and the story of how one woman overcame tremendous hurdles to fulfill a shared dream, paving the way for generations of female marathon runners to come.
Pre-order this book today for only 99 cents and receive it June 5.
This ebook also includes a 17-page excerpt from Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush ($12.99) pre-order, the story of the epic clash at the 1908 Olympic Marathon that jump-started the first marathon mania and heralded the modern age in sports.
I was obssessed.
It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen—everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable…utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.
There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.
I’ve crossed over into his world within the painting, and I’ve seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked—bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone strets of Manhattan. And unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.
Buy this young adult Gothic tale for only $1.99 today as a Barnes & Noble price match.
Rising star Carrie Lofty, author of Flawless ($7.99) and Starlight ($7.99 pre-order), continues her Christies family saga with A Little More Scandal, a sensual eBook novella featuring William Christie and the woman who steals his heart.
Self-made industrialist Sir William Christie tempts the scorn of London society by attempting to seduce Catrin Jones, a modest but opinionated battlefield nurse who earned notoriety after surviving a naval shipwreck. His ambition to secure her exclusive story is part of his latest business plan, while her intention is to marry well before her moment of fame expires. With respectability, wealth, and security at stake, they must decide whether love is worth embracing just a little more scandal…
Pre-order this 80-page novella for only 99 cents today and receive it May 29.
Free now: Contemporary fiction from Bell Bridge Books.
Always confirm price before purchase. Many free and reduced books are offered for a limited time only and only in some geographical regions.
Free now: Inspirational fiction from faith-based publishers. All have been offered free previously.
Always confirm price before purchase. Many free and reduced books are offered for a limited time only and only in some geographical regions.
Clover is ten years old when her father, Gaten Hill, the principal of an elementary school, marries a white woman, Sara Kate. Hours later there is an automobile accident, and Clover’s father is dead, leaving her to be raised by her new stepmother.
In this stunning novel, Dori Sanders tells a story of black-white relationships like no other ever written, as seen through the eyes of a witty, keenly perceptive, and honest ten-year-old girl. Clover’s family–her father, Gaten; her uncle Jim Ed and aunt Everleen, who operate the family peach orchard; her aunt Ruby Helen, who would like for Clover to live with her Maryland after her father’s death; and Sara Kate, who is steadfast in her determination to see Gaten’s wishes through–inhabits the rural, small-town South of today, no longer racked with racial tumult but still struggling to overcome differences of race and class.
You can add this novel to your Kindle for only $1.99 today.
Whether she is contemplating promiscuity or The New Testament, lamenting about what she should have said to Oprah, or learning to tango, Grealy seduces and surprises the reader at every turn. With the sheer brilliance of her imagination, Grealy leads us on delightful journeys with her wit, unflinching honesty and peerless intelligence. A completely original thinker and a remarkable writer, the author leaves the reader with plenty to ponder.
As Seen On TV breaks the mould of the essay, and is destined, like the memoir that preceded it, to become a modern classic. Buy this book for only $2.99.
It’s going to be a wild ride . . .
Lady Alexandra Summersby is not your average society miss. Not only is she more likely to climb a tree than she is to wear a dress, but she has also sworn off marriage. Alex loves taking chances, which is how she finds herself embroiled in a secret mission as she races across the country with the Earl of Trenton. But Alexandra is about to discover that the real danger lies not in duels, but in her completely unexpected reaction to Lord Trenton’s company.
Michael Ashford, Earl of Trenton, is a man of duty. Honorable, charming, and a hit with the ladies, he’s never had trouble staying focused—until now. Lady Alexandra is like no other woman he’s ever met, and suddenly the prospect of marriage seems far more appealing. Now, to convince Alexandra that a life together could be an adventure like no other . . .
Pre-order this historical romance today for only $3.99 and receive the book on May 22.
A man other than my husband sits on England’s throne today.
What would happen if this king suddenly went mad? What would his queen do? Would she make the same mistakes I did, or would she learn from mine?
Margaret of Anjou, queen of England, cannot give up on her husband-even when he slips into insanity. And as mother to the House of Lancaster’s last hope, she cannot give up on her son-even when England turns against them. This gripping tale of a queen forced to stand strong in the face of overwhelming odds is at its heart a tender tale of love.
Award-winning author Susan Higginbotham will once again ask readers to question everything they know about right and wrong, compassion and hope, duty to one’s country and the desire of one’s own heart. Add this historical fiction to your Kindle today for only $2.99.
